What The Church Needs Now – 1 AGAPE LOVE 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

What The Church Needs Now – 1




AGAPE LOVE




1 Corinthians 13:1-13




My family: my kids, my grandkids … we’re a very physically affectionate family. Hugs & kisses 1st thing in the morning. Hugs & kisses before we go to bed at night. Always, “I love you,” when we’re leaving one another. As a result, the past couple of weeks have been really special for me. Walking down the street holding hands with my granddaughter!

So, there was lots & lots of physical & verbal affection.




Now I know that not everyone is comfortable with that, (it certainly was an adjustment for my son-in-law from England) … but that’s our family.




And because 3 of our 5 kids live far away, it’s always a joyous time when we’re together. But it reminded me again how important love is to me.

So, on Thursday, as I began to put this message together,

I tried to think how I would define love, how I would describe it.

How do I explain what love is?




And I wanted to get your perspective, so I sent out an email asking … imagine that you're standing at the corner of Main Street & VanBuren,

& someone comes up to you & says,

"give me, in a few words, a definition or a description of love."

How would you respond? Here are some of the responses I received:




it’s not a chemical explosion of hormones


selfless


unconditional


caring


truth


grace


God


undefinable


understanding


forgiveness


accountability


knowing


sensitive


giving


faithful


compassionate


a goal


an emotion


a command




One person responded, “rather than define love, country music legend Tom T. Hall shares what conjures up this wonderful emotion for him” …




I love little baby ducks,

Old pickup trucks,

Slow movin' trains - & rain.

I love little country streams,

Sleep without dreams,

Sunday School in May - & hay.




I love leaves in the wind,

Pictures of my friends,

Birds of the world - & squirrels.

I love coffee in a cup,

Little fuzzy pups,

Bourbon in a glass - & grass.




I love honest open smiles,

Kisses from a child,

Tomatoes on the vine - & onions.

I love winners when they cry,

Losers when they try,

Music when it's good - & life.




And I love you too.

With that as an introduction, listen now to Good News,

from Paul to the Church in Corinth, & also to Bear Creek Church.

Within our hearing comes the Word of the Lord …




I may be able to speak the languages of human beings and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell. I may have the gift of inspired preaching; I may have all knowledge and understand all secrets; I may have all the faith needed to move mountains – but if I have no love, I am nothing. I may give away everything I have, and even give up my body to be burned – but if I have no love, this does me no good.




Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; loves does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail.




Love is eternal. There are inspired messages, but they are temporary; there are gifts of speaking in strange tongues, but they will cease; there is knowledge, but it will pass. For our gifts of knowledge and of inspired messages are only partial; but when what is perfect comes, then what is partial will disappear.




When I was a child, my speech, feelings, and thinking were all those of a child; now that I am an adult, I have no more use for childish ways.

What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete – as complete as God’s knowledge of me.




Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:1-13)




The grass withers & flowers fade,

but the word of our God endures forever. (Isaiah 40:8)




May the Lord grant that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of His Heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion, to His glory and to our edification. Amen

Several years ago, early on in our relationship, Eddie asked me if I had a favorite passage of Scripture? And since that time most of you have discovered that my “favorite passage” seems to be whatever one we’re looking at on a particular morning. “This is my favorite!”




But, in all honesty, if I had to narrow my Bible down to 10 or so passages,

the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians would have to be included as 1 of them. And over the next few weeks I want us to go over it thoroughly …

almost word-for-word.




In the Smithsonian magazine several months ago, there was a story about a satellite which surveys the crust of the earth. It examines the surface & finds evidence of cities or rivers that haven’t existed for 1,000’s of years. For example, they have found that there was once an enormous river that ran across Saudi Arabia, & at the mouth of it, there was a huge ancient civilization. No one knew this existed until just recently.

This satellite,

with its’ ability to put signals down into the earth was able to pick it up.

It looked deep into the desert & found that there was once a city there.




Over my years in ministry the Lord has often put me in counseling situations. This was especially true when I served in Niagara Falls & Key West.




I remember on 1 occasion I received a call from a friend who asked if I would talk to a couple who were neighbors of his. They were going through a difficult time, & he hoped I might be able to help them. I told him to have them call me, & I would certainly be glad to speak with them.




A couple of days later the man phoned & we set up an appointment.

At the scheduled time this attractive, professional looking couple,

showed up at my office. They were probably in their late 30’s.

After some brief pleasantries about the weather, & kids, & jobs, & so forth, I asked how they were doing right now as a couple. Wow! The dam burst.




And immediately the whole scenario changed. Tension filled the room.

I could almost see fire in their eyes. She looked at him, “I could never trust you!” And he said, “well, let me tell you what I could never do with you.”

And for the next # of moments, forgetting that I was even there,

they just tore each other apart with horrible language & accusations

We’re going to come back to that in just a moment.




Friday, as I was putting my thoughts down on paper I was thinking about that satellite looking down at the desert. There used to be life there, a thriving civilization. I thought about that man & woman in my office. There used to be love there. There was a day when that man loved that woman … & she loved him. They delighted in the birth of their children.

But now all there was … was hatred.




And that brings us now to Paul’s concern for the Church in Corinth.

This chapter’s not here because Paul’s simply in a poetic mood. This is a congregation that has stopped loving. So, Paul presents a teaching on love.




Now when Paul discussed love, he picked a particular word,

which up until that time wasn’t used that often. The Greeks, unlike us,

had 4 different words they could use when describing affection or intimacy or devotion or passion with someone or for something.




There was “eros” from which we get erotic.

This has sexual or sensual overtones. It’s romantic love. It’s the “love” that we sing about in popular songs. It’s the kind of love I have for Kathy,

& interestingly, it’s a word that’s not found in the N.T.




The word that is found often is “phileo”.

This is the kind of affection that exists in families & among friends.

(Matthew 10:37; John 11:36) Philadelphia is the “city of brotherly love.” This is the love we feel instinctively toward people within our immediate circle.

This is the kind of love I have for each of you.




Then there’s “storge” which is the endearment we might have for country, pets, things. It’s what Tom T. Hall’s song was all about.

This is the kind of love I have for 50’s/60’s music,

for used bookstores, for chai latte tea, for America.




But the word that’s most familiar in Christian circles today,

but the Corinthians would not have been that acquainted with … was “agape.”




Now most people today think of love as it’s been patterned for us

by Hallmark cards … nice & sentimental.

Or love, which is deeply romantic, as seen in the movies. You know,

young people staring into each other’s eyes & losing all touch with reality. That’s not agape love.




God operates from a system of agape love.

“God loved (agaped) the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Paul knew what it meant to be loved by God through Christ.




Now remember, Paul “was so zealous that he persecuted the church.”

(Philippians 3:6) This is a guy who went from town to town arresting believers.

(The Acts 9:1-2) He was their #1 tormentor. And then 1 day when he was on the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to him asking, “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?” (The Acts 9:4) Paul never got over the fact that God loved him in spite of all that he’d done in opposition to the Church, & to the Lord Himself.




Paul also understood agape love through suffering. He learned through his pain & persecution what it was like to love your enemies. (Matthew 5:44)

He prayed for blessings for those who beat him up & threw him in jail.

(Romans 12:14) Agape love was the operating system in which he lived his life.




So here in our passage today Paul introduces the subject of love.

Now Paul is writing as a rabbi of his time.

And to make their points rabbis often exaggerated.

They made statements & then pushed them to the nth degree. Remember that as we spend some time in this passage … & try to imagine what these words meant to the Corinthians as they heard them for the 1st time.




When Paul writes of speaking “the languages of human beings,”

the Greeks would connect with that right away.

The premier form of entertainment in those days was talking. (Some of us would have done very well back then!) Back in that time, stadiums would be filled with people who would pay top $ to hear a good speaker.




Instead of going to The Brown County Music Center last night to hear The Hindley Street Country Club, we’d go The Brown County Orator Center to listen to Duane Parsons. It didn’t make any difference what the orators said … it was how they said it.

The Corinthian church loved nothing more than an articulate preacher

who would come & speak.




The “language of angels” on the other hand refers to a Heavenly language. It may even be the gift of “speaking in strange tongues.” (1 Corinthians 12:10) (Paul’s going to deal with that in the next chapter.)




But here, Paul’s pressing this to the extreme. “If I was the best articulator or orator in the whole world, but did it lovelessly, it would be as valueless as somebody who keeps hitting a gong or clanging a bell.”

Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong!




One of the games we played while the kids were here had an awful sounding bell as a buzzer. After hearing it a couple of times,

our daughter Jennifer said … “enough!” It was so annoying.

Without love, the finest oratory is annoying/worthless.




Then Paul highlights 3 things … inspired preaching – the ability to apply God’s Word to our lives; & knowledge – understanding the mysteries of God;

& then, faith – the kind powerful enough to move mountains. The Corinthians would have given their eye teeth for those things. But Paul says if they had preaching & knowledge & faith, but didn’t love, they’d be worth nothing.




Then he goes a step further. “If I gave everything I had to the poor … money, clothing, home.” And here’s that exaggerated phrasing,

“if I laid my body on the altar to be burned as a sacrifice, so that everything I have is gone. And if love wasn’t there, it does no good.”

Paul’s giving a description of organized religion … the outward activities: preaching, education, outreach.




The Jews prided themselves in giving offerings to the poor as a religious act, & the early Christians picked up the idea, even to the point of sacrificial giving. And if we knew the Bible inside & out.

And if we had faith even to move a mountain, (Matthew 17:20)

but if we didn’t love, it would be of no value whatsoever.




Corinth was a church where love was slowly going out the door,

& the day was coming, Paul warns, when they wouldn’t be a church any longer.

They may still be a religious organization with holdings & programs

& connections, but they wouldn’t be a church under the definition of what Christ said it should be.




You see, it doesn’t matter what “good” we do, without love,

it adds up to a big fat nothing.




What had happened in Corinth? Well, people were following after personalities. Paul, Apollos, Peter, & some, very arrogantly, were saying,

“I follow Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:12)




They were taking each other to court & asserting their rights.

One Christian was suing another & the whole church was dividing into sides. (1 Corinthians 6:7) There was sexual immorality going on,

& nobody was doing a thing about it. (1 Corinthians 5:1)




The Corinthian Church was powerful & wealthy. Not just in money,

but in talented people. It had everything we’d want if we fanaticized,

“Let’s have a terrific church.” Everything was there … but love.




Now Paul may be writing to a church in the 1st century,

but he’s describing our world. We’re seeing in our society today the alternative to love … vengeance. Don’t even think about crossing me.

You get me … & I’ll get you more.

I mean, drive-by shootings, revenge, & road rage is a way of life.




What’s included in my weekly charge? “Return to no one evil for evil.”

(Romans 12:17-21)




And there are people in & out of the Church today who don’t have a clue as to what love is all about.

God calls us to look at life through agape eyes. That’s what it means to be a follower of Jesus … & all the rest is 2ndary.




Let me tie this up with a story about a couple who lived here in IN.

David & Lisa Johnson were just an average American couple,

with 2 sons: 4 & 2 years of age.




One day Lisa entered the hospital with symptoms that were flu-like,

but weakening her entire physical system & they wouldn’t go away.

In spite of all the treatment, Lisa almost died.

Although she was still extremely weak, her doctors permitted her to go home, unaware that the worst was yet to come.




The night before she was released her husband, David,

came with some news he had been hiding throughout her illness. He learned that he was infected with AIDS, & had unknowingly given it to her. He confessed that he’d been involved in an adulterous homosexual relationship.




David expected Lisa to react with hysteria. He even had a psychiatrist there to help her through her response. He thought that she’d demand that he leave their home immediately. In fact, he’d already packed. But that didn’t happen. Though her heart was shattered, Lisa chose forgiveness.

(Colossians 3:13) She asked, “David, do you love me?” “Yes.”

“Then let’s work this through.”




Making a break with his homosexual lover wasn’t easy for David.

But he did, & their marriage began to find a new strength.

The complications of AIDS was always with them, but they refused to let it, & the cause of its’ transmission, become a destructive issue for them.




The day arrived when Lisa lay close to death. Her friends came & sang hymns to her. She was becoming weaker physically, but stronger spiritually.




Before she died, she reminded her friends of how much she loved her husband & she would never want anyone to blame him for her death.

Her forgiveness was complete. And now, David, himself, has passed.




Could you have loved that much? …

That’s how much God loves us. Because the truth is … each of us is David Johnson. We have sinned terribly. And our sin caused Jesus’ death.

(2 Corinthians 5:21)




But praise God, Jesus keeps agape/loving us …

& He hasn’t, & He won’t, let us go. (Deuteronomy 31:6)




MARANA THA